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    Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

    (www.wsj.com)
    462 points JumpCrisscross | 11 comments | 30 Aug 25 20:56 UTC | HN request time: 0.901s | source | bottom
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    more_corn ◴[30 Aug 25 21:14 UTC] No.45078070[source]▶
    Because the cost of goods continues to fluctuate wildly due to ongoing tariff wrangling that nobody asked for or needed.

    Also farmers can’t sell anything because retaliation has destroyed international demand (I’d say decimated but it’s way worse than reduction by a tenth)

    replies(4): >>45078094 #>>45078171 #>>45078219 #>>45084062 #
    1. unnamed76ri ◴[30 Aug 25 21:17 UTC] No.45078094[source]▶
    I don’t know if you can factually back up your claims but I applaud your proper use of decimate. It is a rare thing. One might even say it happens less than 10% of the time.
    replies(2): >>45078170 #>>45078182 #
    2. furyofantares ◴[30 Aug 25 21:29 UTC] No.45078170[source]▶
    Decimation was way worse than reduction by a tenth. It was a punishment in the Roman army where the offending unit was divided into groups of 10 and each group had to draw straws. Whoever drew the short straw must be stoned or clubbed to death by the other 9.

    If you threatened me with death if I didn't cut off my feet, I wouldn't consider that "reduction by 10%" even if mathematically it might be.

    replies(2): >>45078410 #>>45078726 #
    3. CorrectHorseBat ◴[30 Aug 25 21:31 UTC] No.45078182[source]▶
    It's not proper use, it's archaic use. Do you also claim bread is meat? A cat is a deer?
    replies(2): >>45078276 #>>45078496 #
    4. dahart ◴[30 Aug 25 21:48 UTC] No.45078276[source]▶
    I wouldn’t say archaic or historical definitions are improper, but you’re right - the primary meaning of decimate in English changed and now means to destroy the majority of. Maybe this is because decimate was always very damaging; threat of death is very serious, regardless of the numbers.

    That said, I had sweet breads recently. And a cat being a deer sounds strange in English now, but deer is still the word for animal in other Germanic languages today, even if it faded in English, so it doesn’t sound completely archaic.

    5. analog31 ◴[30 Aug 25 22:09 UTC] No.45078410[source]▶
    Look on the bright side, it would have been much more harsh, had they worked in binary.
    replies(3): >>45078518 #>>45078529 #>>45083382 #
    6. downrightmike ◴[30 Aug 25 22:20 UTC] No.45078496[source]▶
    I split the hair where chickens were men
    7. djoldman ◴[30 Aug 25 22:23 UTC] No.45078518{3}[source]▶
    Yep. 10 times worse.
    8. underlipton ◴[30 Aug 25 22:24 UTC] No.45078529{3}[source]▶
    Would you say it's half as bad as the worst-case scenario?
    9. nickpeterson ◴[30 Aug 25 22:56 UTC] No.45078726[source]▶
    Could be worse, you could be stabbed.
    replies(1): >>45080571 #
    10. mwcremer ◴[31 Aug 25 05:21 UTC] No.45080571{3}[source]▶
    At least it gets you out in the fresh air.
    11. Agraillo ◴[31 Aug 25 14:27 UTC] No.45083382{3}[source]▶
    Hmm.. Is this my brain inference or the parent comment author' too: "Bright side of life" -> "Always look at the bright side of life" from "Monty Python's Life of Brian" -> plot was taking place during Roman times (mentioned in the GP comment)